Netflix Broadens Film Download Business Strikes deal with LG which could be the first of many... Thursday Jan 03 2008 09:05 EDT Netflix has struck a deal with LG that will allow Netflix to build a movie system directly into televisions or set-top boxes. The company's goal is to be a universal movie-download channel that's available on a variety of devices, so additional deals are expected. According to the New York Times: quote: Reed Hastings, chief executive of Netflix, said he hoped to strike other such deals and that Netflix would soon be viewed as a movie channel that might appear on myriad devices. "We want to be integrated on every Internet-connected device, game system, high-definition DVD player and dedicated Internet set-top box," he said. "Eventually, as TVs have wireless connectivity built into them, we’ll integrate right into the television."
The company has already been offering broadband film downloads via their website for more than a year. |
Robert Premium Member join:2001-08-25 Miami, FL |
Robert
Premium Member
2008-Jan-3 9:20 am
Amazon + Tivo = WinnerGranted, unbox is still in it's early stages since they don't offer High Def, Blue-Ray, or as many new releases as Netflix. But the ability to go log onto unbox in the morning, select your movie (for as low as 99 cents) and have it on your tivo when you get home at night is a major plus. No more having to hook up your computer to your TV!
If Tivo can offer this service, they will have made one major leap over BlockBuster. If they can bring high def and the ability to download movies to your Xbox 360, they will be #1. | |
| | fuziwuziNot born yesterday Premium Member join:2005-07-01 Palm Springs, CA Hitron EN2251 Nest H2D
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fuziwuzi
Premium Member
2008-Jan-3 9:53 am
Re: Amazon + Tivo = Winnersaid by Robert:Granted, unbox is still in it's early stages since they don't offer High Def, Blue-Ray, or as many new releases as Netflix. But the ability to go log onto unbox in the morning, select your movie (for as low as 99 cents) and have it on your tivo when you get home at night is a major plus. No more having to hook up your computer to your TV! If Tivo can offer this service, they will have made one major leap over BlockBuster. If they can bring high def and the ability to download movies to your Xbox 360, they will be #1. I agree, having Amazon Unbox on TiVO already is a big plus. Even my old Series2 Tivo does Unbox well, and having the built-in ability to link effortlessly to my computer to view any media files located there (whether pictures, video, music) is a plus, as well. Now, if Amazon/TiVO come up with a subscription service like NetFlix, where you could pay a fixed amount each month and then download/watch movies at will, well, that would put a nail in the coffin of Netflix, I think, since there is already a huge installed base of TiVOs out there that are already capable. | |
| | | NPGMBR join:2001-03-28 Arlington, VA |
NPGMBR
Member
2008-Jan-3 12:01 pm
Re: Amazon + Tivo = WinnerI subscribe to both TiVo and Netflix but UnBox just does not cut it compared to Netflix. If they have flicks for .99c I'd be happy to use it but every time I look at UnBox it cost like $5 to rent a flick. Thats is just not competitive enough for me to switch to Unbox. | |
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m60521 join:2001-12-28 Hinsdale, IL |
m60521
Member
2008-Jan-3 9:28 am
Feature available already via XBox 360Via my kids XBox 360 I can already download movies that I can then watch in hi-def quality.
I doubt highly that hardware manufacturers will want to increase their costs so that their customers will be tied to one rental provider. Microsoft is doing it their tried-and-true way... giving the capability away free when you buy another of their products. (IE with Windows, Powerpoint with Office). Good luck Netflix. | |
| | 88615298 (banned) join:2004-07-28 West Tenness |
88615298 (banned)
Member
2008-Jan-3 5:04 pm
Re: Feature available already via XBox 360said by m60521:Via my kids XBox 360 I can already download movies that I can then watch in hi-def quality. I doubt highly that hardware manufacturers will want to increase their costs so that their customers will be tied to one rental provider. Microsoft is doing it their tried-and-true way... giving the capability away free when you buy another of their products. (IE with Windows, Powerpoint with Office). Good luck Netflix. Movies and Tv shows that you download can only be played on the 360 you downloaded them on. Really suck for TV shows because those are purcahses not rentals. At least if I buy a show on DVD I can play it on a 360, dvd player, PC, laptop, stand alone HD-DVD or blu-ray player or a PS3. Sorry if I'm paying for a $50 for a whole season of a show I should be able to watch on whatever I damn well please. And in 5,6 or 7 years when the XOX 360 is obsolete and there's a XBOX 720 or whatever am I going to be able to transfer those Tv shows I purchased? Even so if I decide to get a PS4 instead then I'm screwed aren't I? | |
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jus another failure in the making?article doesn't give any details about pricing, DRM, universal availability, etc.
right now, no reason to believe this will be any more successful than any other attempt. It's a nice dream they have about TVs with wireless, but it's just that - a dream. I imagine the studios will have their lawyers carefully scrutinizing any attempt to make it easier for consumers to download and watch movies on a big screen TV.
Edit: ran across an article in WSJ, "Wireless HDTVs to be on view at Tech Show" that contains this: "To satisfy concerns of the MPAA...WirlessHD has intentionally limited the range of the technology"
As long as the MPAA has power to influence standards and technology, it's going to be a long while before this "convergence" is mainstream. This probably could have happened a couple of years ago if the studios were rational about digital video. | |
| NOCManMadMacHatter Premium Member join:2004-09-30 Colorado Springs, CO |
NOCMan
Premium Member
2008-Jan-3 10:01 am
Yay another box.They should have partnered with Tivo. I will not be putting another box under my TV. | |
| | morboComplete Your Transaction join:2002-01-22 00000 |
morbo
Member
2008-Jan-3 10:44 am
Re: Yay another box.amazon wins on this one. | |
| | cghh join:2001-01-15 Milpitas, CA 1 edit |
to NOCMan
said by NOCMan:They should have partnered with Tivo. I will not be putting another box under my TV. NetFlix and TiVo had a deal they announced a couple of years ago, but it fell through, and TiVo then went with Amazon instead. | |
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gatorkramNeed for Speed Premium Member join:2002-07-22 Winterville, NC |
Right directionThis is the right direction to be moving. If broadband speeds keep getting higher, sooner or later the old outdated TV model will be gone...
Everyone wants TV on demand, movies on demand, etc etc.. Now if they will just give it to us..
We need TONS more services like this, and a simple set-top box that hooks to your broadband connection, and then allows you to browse all video providers, or stores if you will, and pick what you want to see, and download...
They need to put first run movies on this as well, I know I'm not the only person who would rather watch movies in my own home, rather than in the mix with loud, rude, cell phone talking sub-humans...
So yes, I welcome this, and others like it.. Bring it on baby! | |
| | SpaethCoDigital Plumber MVM join:2001-04-21 Minneapolis, MN 1 edit
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Re: Right directionsaid by gatorkram:This is the right direction to be moving. If broadband speeds keep getting higher, sooner or later the old outdated TV model will be gone... 3rd party IPTV content will never be scalable for anything more than niche content. Most of what the public knows as IPTV today is done in unicast IP streams, which means that the bandwidth grows linearly as the number of viewers grows. Say you can get an HDTV feed in 1mbps of bandwidth (it's certainly going to be higher than that, but this makes the math easy). For shows like American Idol to be viewed using this technology you would need to meet peak demands of 35-40 million viewers. That's 35,000,000 - 40,000,000 megabit, or 35-40 terabit of bandwidth on the head-end programming source just to distribute content for a single program. The only way IPTV makes sense en mass is using IP multicast, where your ISP would get a single 1mbps feed for that program and then copy the packets in their network to any end-device that joins the multicast group. Since this requires significant configuration in the network, and broadband networks are also owned by companies selling entertainment via traditional methods, 3rd party mass media distribution via IP is unlikely to ever gain full scale adoption. Television broadcast coupled with DVR time-shifting functionality will likely continue to be the direction of choice because of the efficiency of the delivery method. | |
| | | gaforces (banned)United We Stand, Divided We Fall join:2002-04-07 Santa Cruz, CA 1 edit |
gaforces (banned)
Member
2008-Jan-3 11:09 am
Re: Right directionKind of like old school passing of the test papers to the front row, for them to pass on. Bit torrent is an advanced form of this ... no it'll never take off I am not looking forward to even more netflix spam. | |
| | | | SpaethCoDigital Plumber MVM join:2001-04-21 Minneapolis, MN |
Re: Right directionsaid by gaforces:Bit torrent is an advanced form of this ... no it'll never take off Case in point. BitTorrent, while it has gained considerable popularity over the years, still only had reached adoption by a small percentage of the Internet community as whole. Studies like » www.ipoque.com/media/int ··· udy_2007 place BT adoption rates at roughly 20% of all Internet users. Even with that relatively small percentage the impact from such traffic has spawned an entirely new industry of companies that make products just to limit P2P effects on networks. BT has scalability issues just like IPTV. | |
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| | FFH5 Premium Member join:2002-03-03 Tavistock NJ |
to SpaethCo
said by SpaethCo:3rd party IPTV content will never be scalable for anything more than niche content...... Television broadcast coupled with DVR time-shifting functionality will likely continue to be the direction of choice because of the efficiency of the delivery method. Good analysis. Multicast is the only practical possibility for IPTV of mass market shows. And as you point out, even that is unlikely for the foreseeable future. | |
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| gatorkramNeed for Speed Premium Member join:2002-07-22 Winterville, NC |
I wasn't meaning to imply live streaming content, more like a large extensive library of downloadable content.
Much like on-demand tv they have now, except you'd just download it first, and then watch it.
Obviously people already do this with bittorrent, but it would be nice to have legal options, and much more content available..
Like a simpsons channel, that has all the simpsons episodes including the most recent, or a MASH channel, etc etc.
I think you get the idea now. | |
| | bear73Metnav... Fly The Unfriendly Skies Premium Member join:2001-06-09 Derry, NH |
to gatorkram
said by gatorkram:... They need to put first run movies on this as well, I know I'm not the only person who would rather watch movies in my own home, rather than in the mix with loud, rude, cell phone talking sub-humans... I REALLY doubt we will see first run movies downloadable to the home in hte forseeable future. There is too much money tied up in theatres. And while I hate the crouds, many people still cannot rival the experience of a theatre in their home. I believe we will see theatres become more like the epic feel that they had in the 20's and 30's if they are to survive. But you can bet your last dollar that the MPAA will fight this (and similar) technologies to prevent releases from comming to us earlier than they do now... | |
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Integrate the 'watch now' feature with....Windows Media Center, and I'll be impressed. | |
| | dispatcher21911 Where is your emergency? join:2004-01-22 united state |
Re: Integrate the 'watch now' feature with....The Xbox360 has iptv capabilites and I would love to see a Netflix Blade. That would be awesome. Log on to Netflix, submit your gamertag, your box gets hit with an update...Netflix Blade for Instant Watch...that would be cool... | |
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PhilRojo Sol Premium Member join:2001-06-11 Downers Grove, IL |
Phil
Premium Member
2008-Jan-3 12:10 pm
My wifes loves watching movies via Netflix...This is good news. I look forward to seeing a broader online selection available. In the meantime, my wife loves to watch foreign films via Netflix's "Watch Now" feature. | |
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Re: My wifes loves watching movies via Netflix...Yeah. Good for her! I'm still waiting for my returned video to ship a new one. Nice Netflix. Blame the holidays for a 8 day turnaround on a title. Meanwhile, a card sent to Cali, from PA, got there in 3 days!
If it weren't that Netflix had such a diverse choice, I would care less.
(I think they were on to me. I was watching a film, turning it around the next day and getting another in 2 days. Guess they flagged me. Hey, it was their policy...) | |
| | | Mannus Premium Member join:2005-10-25 Fort Wayne, IN 1 edit |
Mannus
Premium Member
2008-Jan-3 1:27 pm
Re: My wifes loves watching movies via Netflix...said by cableties:Yeah. Good for her! I'm still waiting for my returned video to ship a new one. Nice Netflix. Blame the holidays for a 8 day turnaround on a title. Meanwhile, a card sent to Cali, from PA, got there in 3 days! If it weren't that Netflix had such a diverse choice, I would care less. (I think they were on to me. I was watching a film, turning it around the next day and getting another in 2 days. Guess they flagged me. Hey, it was their policy...) That's why I never filled out the the email surveys they sent me asking when I received my movies. I'm on 1-at-a-time unlimited, and get at least 7 movies/month from them all for 8.99/month. My turn-a-round from receipt of 1st movie to return to receipt of next movie; 3-4 days. | |
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telcogod
Anon
2008-Jan-3 2:09 pm
Vongo On XBOX rulesVongo downloads are fast quality is as good as cable library is extensive. Microsoft Media Center Markup Language is the future. | |
| spewakR.I.P Dadkins Premium Member join:2001-08-07 Elk Grove, CA ·Consolidated Com..
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spewak
Premium Member
2008-Jan-3 3:26 pm
Reads like a quote from the Tech crazy '90sReed Hastings, chief executive of Netflix, said he hoped to strike other such deals and that Netflix would soon be viewed as a movie channel that might appear on myriad devices. "We want to be integrated on every Internet-connected device, game system, high-definition DVD player and dedicated Internet set-top box," he said. "Eventually, as TVs have wireless connectivity built into them, well integrate right into the television." | |
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netflixer
Anon
2008-Jan-3 11:06 pm
I'll buy that... for a dollarWhile other download services have failed to date, I would gamble that Netflix is in it to win.
The main problems I've seen, so far, is the pricing model and the video quality. If Netflix can address these, and offers up at least their existing catalog, its a winner.
If its like other rental models, "... as low as $.99", then I won't be interested. | |
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